Thursday, October 26, 2017

January 2018 Solicits

The DC solicits for January have come out and the super-books all look great.

It is a bit depressing but not too surprising that we got the Final Issue death knell for Superwoman. I feel like the book came in with some decent promotion but then fizzled a bit. The feint of having a Lois-led book followed by Phil Jimenez's inscrutable story which ultimately was wiped from continuity made it a difficult book to really grab onto. And while K. Perkins has done yeoman's work in stabilizing the ship, I fear the sales horse had left the barn.

And we'll start off discussing Supergirl #17 which sports this utterly horror-drenched cover by Robson Rocha!

SUPERGIRL #17Written by STEVE ORLANDO and JODY HOUSERArt and cover by ROBSON ROCHA and DANIEL HENRIQUESVariant cover by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU“PLAIN SIGHT” part three! While Kara’s worried about whether Ben Rubel will ask her or rival Belinda Zee to the National City Tech High School dance, Director Bones from the D.E.O. figures out what high school Supergirl attends and crashes the annual party. Will the danger and destruction be enough to finally force Kara to reveal her super-heroic secret I.D.?

There is no doubt this cover is an homage of sorts to the Carrie movie. I mean, how could it not be!

I love how this issue really seems to emphasize the Kara Danvers side of our hero's life, talking about dances and dates. We haven't seen enough of that.
But the biggest thing about this solicit is the inclusion of Belinda Zee into the DCU proper! Belinda was the rival of Supergirl in the beloved Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade miniseries by Landry Walker and Eric Jones. So having her make the leap to this book is very appreciated. (We also got a Belinda mention in Sterling Gates' Adventures of Supergirl book!)

So pumped for this issue!!

ACTION COMICS #995Written by DAN JURGENSArt by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUNDCover by DAN JURGENS and TREVOR SCOTTVariant cover by NEIL EDWARDS and JAY LEISTEN“Booster Shot” part three! Time is broken, and Superman and Booster Gold are in over their heads trying to repair it! Meanwhile, Lois Lane confronts her estranged father—and Sam Lane now stands face to face with his grandson Jon for the first time. As Clark struggles to reconcile the truth of his own father, can Lois Lane do the same?ACTION COMICS #996Written by DAN JURGENSArt by WILL CONRADCover by DAN JURGENS and TREVOR SCOTTVariant cover by NEIL EDWARDS and JAY LEISTEN“Booster Shot” part four! Superman and Booster Gold are out of time, and they’ve found themselves marooned on a strange planet sometime in the future. So why does this planet’s infrastructure look…Kryptonian? The answer shakes the Man of Steel to the core as the ruler of this planet reveals himself…the son of Zod reigns supreme!

No mention at all of Mr. Oz/Jor-El in these solicits which I find very interesting. It didn't sound like that story was over in the prior solicits. Maybe it is just dormant.

I don't mind a time-travel story but I worry about leaving Superman out of the main timeline for a prolonged period. Could this be on purpose so that the ultimate upshot of Doomsday Clock can play out while Superman is 'gone'?

SUPERMAN #38Written by PETER J. TOMASI and PATRICK GLEASONArt by ED BENESCover by IVAN REIS and OCLAIR ALBERTVariant cover by JORGE JIMENEZ“SUPER SONS OF TOMORROW” finale! With no other choice left, the Batman of Tomorrow brings in the Titans of Tomorrow to take on today’s Teen Titans—as the life of Superman’s son hangs in the balance! See the return of future Superman Conner Kent, Wonder Woman Cassie Sandsmark and Bart Allen Flash in the final battle of this epic crossover.SUPERMAN #39Written by PETER J. TOMASI and PATRICK GLEASONArt by BARRY KITSONCover by CHRIS BURNHAMVariant cover by JORGE JIMENEZ“SUPER SONS OF TOMORROW” finale! With no other choice left, the Batman of Tomorrow brings in the Titans of Tomorrow to take on today’s Teen Titans—as the life of Superman’s son hangs in the balance! See the return of future Superman Conner Kent, Wonder Woman Cassie Sandsmark and Bart Allen Flash in the final battle of this epic crossover.

I don't know enough about the Titans to know if Cassie and Bart are currently in the DCU or not. Terrible that I have become a bit limited in the universe. But this sounds interesting. Having Barry Kitson on art is a nice draw too!

NEW SUPER-MAN #19Written by MARIKO TAMAKIArt by BRENT PEEPLES and RICHARD FRIENDCover by PHILIP TANVariant cover by BERNARD CHANG“A Day in the Life”! The New Super-Man and Justice League of China changed the metahuman landscape of China forever, and Laney Lan has reported on their heroics since day one. But there’s more to Shanghai’s ace reporter than meets the eye, and when faced with turmoil in her own family, Laney’s commitment to reporting the truth will be tested like never before.

Interesting that we have Mariko Tamaki at writer and not Gene Luen Yang. There were some rumblings that this book was going to end with #18. Could Yang be off the book?

I like what Tamaki did with Supergirl Being Super. This solicit doesn't sound like a book that is planning on ending any time soon. And I actually think is the right time for a 'Day in the Life' style issue. It could be a jumping on point and so this can introduce new readers to the cast.

SUPERWOMAN #18Written by K. PERKINSArt by STEPHEN SEGOVIA and ART THIBERTCover by PHIL JIMENEZVariant cover by EMANUELA LUPACCHINO“THE MIDNIGHT HOUR” finale! A day in the life of Superwoman…but someone else is in the driver’s seat! Will Superwoman manage to break her mind free from Midnight’s digital grasp and dispel her twisted protocol once and for all?

Such a bummer.

Will Lana maintain powers once this book goes away? Will be retrofit her into a more typical role?

I hope she remains a super-powered member of the super-family.

And I hope DC gives K. Perkins something new to write soon!

SUPER SONS #12Written by PETER J. TOMASIArt by JORGE JIMENEZCover by GUISEPPE CAMUNCOLIVariant cover by DUSTIN NGUYEN“SUPER SONS OF TOMORROW” epilogue! Superboy and Robin must face the repercussions of the events of “Super Sons of Tomorrow” and how the emotional toll will affect their relationships with each other, their parents and the Teen Titans. Meanwhile, the past rears its ugly head to haunt Damian Wayne—in the form of his mother, Talia Al Ghul!

Talia Al Ghul!!

I have been pretty impressed with this book. I like how family time with the Kents is part of the fabric of the stories. We haven't seen much of Damian and Bruce. So I am glad to see Talia enter this. 'Sons' is part of the title after all.

7 comments:

Anonymous
said...

"I love how this issue really seems to emphasize the Kara Danvers side of our hero's life, talking about dances and dates. We haven't seen enough of that. But the biggest thing about this solicit is the inclusion of Belinda Zee into the DCU proper!"

Yes! Belinda Zee!

She'll bully, bitch and then complain Kara is too busy being two people and having a horse to let her do that!

Good to see the book exploring Kara's civilian life. God knows the fifth and sixth volume failed to do so, and suffered because of it.

And the son of Zod? I wonder if we'll see some callback to Last Son or New Krypton.

"See the return of future Superman Conner Kent, Wonder Woman Cassie Sandsmark and Bart Allen Flash in the final battle of this epic crossover."

That's... interesting.

The rest of it sounds fine. Superwoman is disappointing but expected. Phil Jimenez's convoluted and preacy story, the Lois Lane bait-and-switch and the cosmic retcon killed the book.

One question, anj: Are you reading "Gotham City Garage"? I don't know what your opinion of that "The DC universe meets Mad Max" post-apocalyptic universe may be, but I think you'd love that version of Kara. She's a fierce, determined and smiling sweetheart who tries to protect everybody.

I'd probably be a little more excited about the return of Connor (and Cassie & Bart) if it wasn't tied to the "Titans of Tomorrow" book, which appears to be derived from the story Johns did in Teen Titans before the New 52. I don't want to read about characters I like being evil dictators, as they were in this story; I thought Injustice scratched that itch for that audience.

My "find another plot for Jon Kent, for the love of pete" rants from December still stand, since apparently we're still doing this.

Supergirl #17 looks amazeballs. I have been getting the variants since Rebirth started but I might double down and get the Carrie cover as well.

Action Comics I am considering dropping. Dan Jurgens is not the writer I am looking for to put the Superman family together.

I am conflicted about New Superman. I love Marikos writing, but I dropped it after three issues at the start of Rebirth, and now I feel I might be too far behind. Maybe I can find a good synopsis browsing through your reviews Anj that can set me on the path.

Superwoman... I wish I could have enjoyed that, but everything went wrong with that launch. She should have been given a better costume, a better starting arc, a place in a team, a place in the Superman family and it might have succeeded, but DC is dropping the ball on the Super relationships except for the Superman+Jon+Lois in the Superman title.

"...DC is dropping the ball on the Super relationships except for the Superman+Jon+Lois in the Superman title."

And even there, they seem to want to ditch it, judging by so many "our child is dangerous/brainwashed/destined for villainy" plots. But leaving at minimum Kara out of the extended family dynamic is awful; she'd be a great presence in any of these titles. They could have a whole family doing awesome superheroics together happily, but they'd rather blow off Kara & try to convince readers Jon is evil (I suspect to avoid a Lian Harper-esque backlash when they decide to kill him off) instead of using a little more thought & emotional intelligence. Tomasi has some added layers, but Jurgens really doesn't want the family. His stuff feels very 90s in that regard.

And yeah. If they're gonna keep jamming the worst Robin ever down our throats, I'm avoiding Super Sons, too. He RUINED the first trade. DC is determined to squander so many good characters right now in this line...

"Action Comics I am considering dropping. Dan Jurgens is not the writer I am looking for to put the Superman family together."

I'm afraid you're right. A pity because I think "Revenge" showed he can make right use of them. Unfortunately it's clear that, as far as the core books are concerned, Superman's only family is Lois, Jon and maaaaaybe Krypto.

Some fans still demand the return of the Earth Angel or even Cir-El. But let us be serious: DC hardly knows what to do with the current Super-Family and the rest of Superman's supporting cast. Even firmly establishec characters like Kara or Steel are all but irrelevant right now. The ancillary titles sell generally poorly, and the core books like gangbusters nowadays. There's no ongoing Legion book. Wally West's most-hyped return has led to nothing so far.

Even if Conner Kent and human Linda Danvers were brought back, they'd be mishandled. Exhibit A: the mini-series which shall not be named out of respect towards poor Linda.

"And even there, they seem to want to ditch it, judging by so many "our child is dangerous/brainwashed/destined for villainy" plots. But leaving at minimum Kara out of the extended family dynamic is awful; she'd be a great presence in any of these titles. They could have a whole family doing awesome superheroics together happily, but they'd rather blow off Kara & try to convince readers Jon is evil (I suspect to avoid a Lian Harper-esque backlash when they decide to kill him off) instead of using a little more thought & emotional intelligence. Tomasi has some added layers, but Jurgens really doesn't want the family."

I completely agree.

Jor-El decides humanity is hopeless and he must guide his family to another world. Apparently his family doesn't include his niece. And funny how he didn't bring up his brother's "mercy killing".

"His stuff feels very 90s in that regard."

I guess it was inevitable. Back in the 00's the books were steeped in Silver and Bronze Age nostalgia. Now it seems the 90's nostalgia time has come.

I don't hate Damian, but he certainly isn't my favorite Robin. Jason Todd I don't care for. Carrie Kelley and Stephanie Brown are out of question. Dick Grayson is THE iconic Robin, but right now he's Nightwing. Tim Drake was the second best Robin but I doubt he's taking the mantle back.

So, we're stuck with a brat who isn't allowed to get any sort of character development.

I did suggest to Tomasi and Gleason on Twitter, awhile back, that they have Lois meet Talia and call the issue Mother’s Day- hope it happens!

Cassie was seen in the New 52, and Bart, but they were both awful, I hope the coming versions are more like their old selves (mind, BART character basically ceased to exist as soon as Geoff Johns began writing him as Kid Flash).